The Impact of Early Teacher Bias and Academic Risk on Children’s Current and Future Academic Achievement

Author

Damira S. Rasheed, The Graduate Center, City University of New YorkFollow

Date of Degree

9-2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Program

Educational Psychology

Advisor

Keith A. Markus

Committee Members

David Rindskopf

Joshua L. Brown

Patricia Brooks

Patricia Jennings

Subject Categories

Developmental Psychology | Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research | Educational Psychology | Elementary Education | Elementary Education and Teaching | Language and Literacy Education | Other Teacher Education and Professional Development | Race and Ethnicity | Social Psychology

Keywords

Racial/ethnic academic achievement gap, teacher bias, academic risk, critical race theory, causal inference, self-fulfilling prophecy

Abstract

The racial academic achievement gap continues to plague child academic outcomes in American public schools and teacher bias may be a contributing factor. Through the theoretical lens of critical race theory and the cultural synchrony hypothesis, this study contemplated how longstanding racism in the US may function to hinder the academic achievement outcomes of minority-race children. Moreover, cultural mismatches in the classroom between teachers and students may be associated with lower quality teacher-child relationships and perceived academic risk. A growing body of work has examined the association between teacher bias and child academic-risk factors—with risk defined by children’s sociodemographic characteristics and school functioning skills—on child academic achievement levels (Alvidrez & Weinstein, 1999; Hamre & Pianta, 2001; Hinnant et al., 2009; Ready & Wright, 2011). However, very few studies extend beyond describing associations between academic risk, teacher bias and academic achievement to analyze whether there is a causal relationship among these variables. This dissertation study developed a causal model guided by prior research findings on teacher judgment accuracy, expectancy and stereotype threat (Alvidrez & Weinstein, 1999; Cherng, 2017; Garcia & Weiss, 2017; Gershenson & Papageorge, 2018; Hinnant et al., 2009; Hoge & Colardarci, 1989; Jussim & Harber, 2005; McKown & Weinstein, 2002; McKown et al., 2010; Pearl, 2010; Pigott & Cowen, 2000; Rosenthal & Rubin, 1978; Steele & Aronson, 1995; Südkamp et al., 2012; Tenenbaum & Ruck, 2007). Furthermore, this study examined whether racially/ethnically diverse classrooms and positive teacher-child relationships would provide protection or a buffer against potential harm from teacher bias or academic risk.

The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Cohort (ECLSK:2011) national dataset collected by the US Department of Education was analyzed in this study. Causal inference methods were leveraged to extend prior predictive findings and deepen the understanding of the complex mechanisms surrounding academic underachievement and the intricate relationships among academic risk, teacher bias, and child achievement outcomes. The main hypothesis was supported, teacher bias about reading ability mediated the effect of academic risk on kindergarten and fourth grade reading achievement. Moreover, teacher bias about math ability mediated the effect of academic risk on math achievement in kindergarten, fourth grade and fifth grade. This suggests that the influence of academic risk on achievement operates through teacher bias. Furthermore, a post-hoc ancillary analysis found evidence of stronger self-fulfilling prophecy effects for children with higher baseline achievement scores. The results revealed that high-achieving kindergarteners with underpredicted subjective reading scores had lower reading achievement scores in fourth and fifth grade compared to high-achieving kindergarteners with average or overpredicted subjective reading scores. Positive teacher-child relationships were protective for children who were underpredicted. Moreover, overprediction was protective for all children, regardless of their objective achievement level. Early exposure to diverse classroom in kindergarten buffered effects of bias on achievement, but the effects were very small and likely not practically significant. Study implications for policy initiatives for families living in poverty, teacher education and preservice training programs, and school and classroom practices are discussed.

Recommended Citation

Rasheed, Damira S., "The Impact of Early Teacher Bias and Academic Risk on Children’s Current and Future Academic Achievement" (2024). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/5986